Leisure Services Director
Ann Conklin
1150 Canton Center S.
Phone: 734/394-5360
Fax: 734/394-5366

Fellows Creek Wetland Nature Trail

The Fellows Creek Wetland improves water quality, stabilizes stream banks, reduces pollutants entering the Rouge River and provides fish and wildlife habitat.

Why was it built?

Fellows Creek once had a wide floodplain and a meandering stream bed. Its banks were forested wetlands and open prairie. Drainage for agriculture straightened the channel, reduced plant and animal diversity and negatively affected water quality in the lower Rouge and Detroit rivers. The Fellows Creek Wetland seeks to re-create a more natural stream system to more effectively manage storm water, reduce stream bank erosion and benefit fish and wildlife.

 

 

What animals live here?

Frogs, toads, shorebirds and dragonflies thrive on the insects that live in the wetland. The trees around the wetland provide homes for bats which consume one-half of their body weight in flying insects each night (3,000 insects per bat!). Butterflies drink wildflower nectar for food, and lay their eggs on the leaves of native plants. Hummingbirds also rely on wildflower nectar. Ducks and muskrats thrive on plants such as cattail and arrowhead that grow with their roots in the water. Look for muskrat dens that look like piles of cattails.

What are the benefits to the environment?

In addition to providing wildlife habitat, the Fellows Creek Wetland:

• reduces storm water run-off into streams
• filters sediment and pollutants out of storm water
• reduces flooding
• reduces stream bank erosion

What can I do to help?

Natural areas need care, just like parks and gardens. Volunteer park stewards install and tend bird boxes, remove invasive plants, and collect and spread wildflower seed. Everybody can help the river by preventing chemicals, oil, fuel, detergent and dirt from washing into storm drains. Homeowners can help the river by using less fertilizer and pesticide on their lawn and garden, letting the grass grow taller between cuttings, reducing the amount of lawn, watering less often, and planting native wildflowers.